Attingham dig uncovers remains of 200-year-old building

It comes after a 10-day excavation at Attingham Park.

The team, led by professional archaeologist Dr Nigel Baker and volunteers from Attingham Park’s Heritage Archaeology Ranger Team, uncovered the walls of a summerhouse that could be up to 200 years old.

A number of artefacts were found, including buttons and the fragments of a marble fireplace.

Now they have been packaged up and taken away and are being subjected to a series of tests to determine their exact age.

It appears that the building, which stood in a section of woodland on the estate, had once been grand. Along with the fragment of marble fireplace which was found during the dig bearing graffiti in the name of 'I, Thomas Truman' sections of a painted decorative glass from a window have been uncovered.

Archaeologists believe the brick and stone building, parts of which were unearthed during park management works being carried out to look at vehicle accessibility in areas of the estate earlier this summer, dates back to the 1800s.

Prior to the dig, a variety of maps and Lidar surveying were used to check for historically sensitive areas within the grounds.

Lidar is a remote sensing technology that uses lasers to measure the topography of an area, and this revealed ground variations and a difference in ground height. Although nothing was indicated on historical maps, the Lidar map showed an area with unusual ground topography.

Full details of the finds will be made public within the coming weeks.